He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it. Therefore do not let anyone condemn you…Do not let anyone disqualify you. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.
When you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. īy Marcy Hall, from the Abbey of the Arts Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyesįor further reading and insight on the topic if internal purification in the desert tradition, pick up Thomas Keating’s Open Mind, Open Heart.
Remember again, there is nothing hidden from God. Spread it out before you as your holy offering to God. Thank God for the presence of your struggle. For a moment identify struggle instead of the thing you are struggling with. There we had reputation and plenty to eat here we have little to eat and little of everything else.” We need nothing of what we have left behind. We are like exiles: we have been separated from the things of this world and have given ourselves in one faith to the one Father.
Thus we ought to light the divine fire in ourselves with tears and effort.Īmma Syncletica said, “We ought to govern our souls with discretion and to remain in the community, neither following our own will nor seeking our own good. It is just like building a fire: at first it is smoky and your eyes water, but later you get the desired result. But after that there is indescribable joy. They give us courage, not because of their great accomplishment, but because of their awareness of the battle and their tenacity to fight it.Īmma Syncletica said: In the beginning there is struggle and a lot of work for those who come near to God. The guides were not as much helpful in all the nuances of your inner workings as they were comforts in the struggle as fellow strugglers. But you also had to feel your way through it all in the silence of your prayer. Sorting through the thoughts and intents of your heart has been your longing, but you have not even been satisfied until you found help from a guide - maybe even guides (plural) is more like it. Perhaps you, like many around you, have had a deep interest in the inner workings of the heart. The Desert Fathers waged a full-fledged, internal war against all things impure. “These men were rebels, the ones who broke the rules of the world which say that property and goods are essential for life, that the one who accepts the direction of another is not free, that no one can be fully human without sex and domesticity.” Perhaps this quote from Benedicta Ward, SLG, in a book she edited, Daily Readings with the Desert Fathers, will get your attention and spark some rebellion in you as we follow their pattern this week. There is always more to glean from the desert tradition. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
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